


Artifice AU Background Information

by NathanAllenBaker



Series: Artifice AU [1]
Category: Hannibal (TV), Magnum P.I. (TV 2018), NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Parahumans Series - Wildbow, Silicon Valley (TV), Thoroughbreds (2017)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:34:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24756361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NathanAllenBaker/pseuds/NathanAllenBaker
Summary: A Compilation of background information that is not necessarily mentioned in the story, but is common knowledge. Basically, it's various headcanons and stuff I've said in the comments.
Series: Artifice AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790326
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. PICIS Overview

PICIS

The Parahuman Incident and Criminal Investigative Service, commonly referred to as PICIS, or "Pisces", is a sister organization to the PRT that investigates and deals with crimes involving parahumans. Specifically, crimes that are not connected to parahuman organizations. Their secondary function is as a watchdog organization to the PRT, with the director of an office having equal power to a PRT director. It stands out as one of the few government organizations that employ parahumans in a non-masked capacity.

Organization

PICIS is organized into regional departments, each led by a Director. The size of the department can vary wildly, from the LA department, with nearly 300 employees, to the New Orleans department which consists of two agents and a consultant. The Director of the department is given a fair bit of leeway in how their department is structured, some operating like a typical investigative agency and others organized more like a sheriff's office.

Parahuman Employees

The identities of parahuman employees of PICIS are a matter of public record, but several measures are taken to prevent violations of the "unwritten rules". First, codenames and identity concealment methods are used in the field. Secondly, Freedom Of Information Act requests regarding the identity of parahuman employees are scrupulously vetted before being answered. Thirdly, after the incident involving the former Boston Protectorate member Artificer, disclosures of the identities of former heroes are handled discretely via small press release, and said members are encouraged to avoid using their powers overtly in public.

The parahuman contingent inside PICIS consists mainly of Thinkers and Tinkers, with modest number of Trumps, Masters and Strangers making up most of the remainder.


	2. Villain Groups

The Elite

In this AU, the Elite are portrayed more as being made up of 80's corporate raider-types than businessmen from the late 90's as the NEPEA-5 bill was passed in the early 90's. It lacks a significant amount of Tinkers, due to exceptions made for them. Basically, take Gordon Gekko and give him superpowers, and you have the typical member of the Elite. Sexism and racism are rampant in the organization, with experienced female members serving as subordinates to newer male members being common. The fact that a significant portion of its members are Cauldron capes has led to the organization effectively becoming a "good ol'boys club" with powers.

The Ambassadors

The biggest change I've made in this AU is having the Ambassadors be about 10 years older than in canon. In this case, Accord was jailed in the late 80's and the Clockwork Dogs first appeared in Boston in the early 90's. The Boston Games still turned out as in canon, but with a more familiar roster of Ambassadors. 

Accord is more functional in this AU, not lapsing into fits of murderous rage at the slightest disruption, but still despising those who do. He is more focused on improving the world here, using his power to develop a way to predict murders and acting to prevent them, a la _Person of Interest._ Those actions, combined with his track record in reducing crime in Charlestown, has lead to a willingness by Boston-based heroes to be less opposed to working with villains on a temporary basis.


	3. The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is a well-regarded show in this universe, like in reality, but it stands out as a show that tackles cape issues very well.

First off, it has several parahuman characters:

-Homer, who is depicted as being a minor Brute with a surprising resistance to Master/Stranger effects. Jury's out about whether it's due to his power or that he's simply too stupid to fool.

-Lisa is a Master/Stranger, similar to Canary, who can make people feel the same emotions she does when singing or humming. She's able to channel it through her sax.

-Apu is a Stranger who can effectively cloak large areas in an effect that makes people uncertain where they are. He's implied to have been a former member of the Thanda, who came to America to avoid an enemy.

-Moe is a Stranger who is believed to be a Case 53, but his power is actually the opposite of Oliver's: people perception of him is of their mental image of ugly people.

The power plant is replaced by the Springfield PRT, led by Burns, who is still as amoral as ever. He's similar to Coil in that he seems to be more interested in controlling stuff instead of fixing problems. Homer is a PRT soldier instead of a safety inspector.

The Spucklers are parodies of the Fallen, with Cletus having a poorly-made Behemoth effigy in his yard.

The show is otherwise known for the fact that many capes, both hero and villain are willing to voice themselves in episodes taking place where they live. Most of the New York, Boston, Georgia and other major heroes have portrayed themselves on the show. It extend overseas, with the premier heroes of England, as well as several members of the Garama and Thanda playing themselves. 

The show is known for having several award-winning episodes, such as the universes version of "Moaning Lisa" which was praised as a sensitive, if humorous depiction of a trigger event. 

The show is well known in this universe for its regular "Brockton Bay episode" which is usually aired around November. It involves the family somehow winding up in Brockton Bay. Almost all the capes in the city have voiced themselves in what are usually exaggerated takes on them. Kaiser has been portrayed as secretly being into anime and samurai films, Hookwolf as a _Fight Club_ parody. Lung is always portrayed as thinking he's an actual dragon, with Oni Lee being surprisingly similar to Smithers. New Wave is shown as being a soap opera family where everything is said very dramatically. The Protectorate and Wards are portrayed as fairly likable, if a little eccentric. Whenever Burns is involved, he is shown as annoying the hell out of Piggot.

There is one episode of the show that has a long story behind it. In 2009, the Slaughterhouse Nine took the entire cast and crew hostage and forced them to produce an episode written by the group, where Sideshow Bob joined the Nine. The episode was actually very good, featuring lots of gags(Such as the Siberian having a pacifier like Maggie's) as well as being well written. When production finished, the cast and crew were released unharmed. The episode never won any awards, but is regarded as one of the most famous episodes of TV.


	4. Misc Headcanons

-On Rachel Lindt

Herbie handled her case and she was only found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to community service. She got emancipated afterward and runs the dog shelter where Taylor does her hours and where Madison is doing her community service. Herbie mentions that she thought Rachel's stepmother was bitch when screaming at Carol. She shows up a little bit later, but mostly she's just living quietly.

-On Crossover Elements 

Hetty is a Cauldron cape and a member of Watchdog. Her power is an enhanced cognitive function and a powerful danger sense. As far as people associated with Cauldron go, she's probably the most moral, having purchased her powers to be a better agent.  
Kensie is a PICIS agent whose power is an enhanced aim.  
Magnum is the Director of PICIS' Hawaii office. No word on Higgins' status yet.  
As Gibbs left NCIS, McGee has taken his position as head of the Major Crimes squad, which consists of himself, Torres and Quinn.  
Hannibal is not a cannibal here but is still very manipulative. He's a member of a task force dealing with Simurgh victims.  
LaSalle is the New Orleans PICIS Director, a career choice brought on by Scion's assistance during Katrina. His office is just him and Sebastian, with Hannah consulting on occasion.

Abigail Hobbs is part of the Minneapolis Protectorate as Shrike. Her power is low-level regeneration and a form of hemokinesis that lets her both control her blood and alter its physical and chemical properties.


	5. New Orleans Protectorate and Affiliated Heroes

The New Orleans Protectorate is small and consists of three heroes.

Dwayne Pride "Charmaine"

Dwayne triggered early when he thought his father beat his mother's boyfriend to death. His power is that he can imbue anything he sees as a weapon with the ability to "tag" whoever he hits. Anyone tagged in this manner he can sense, and can inflict debilitating pain on if he can see or hear them. He's an example of the now-defunct "Tagger" classification, now being classified as a Striker/Thinker. He wears a suit that evokes a cowboy with a couple of voodoo-esque elements (bone detailing on the suit and a couple of pouches on a belt) with a purple, gold and green color scheme. He usually channels his ability through the pistol he carries.

Hazel Levesque "Prosperine"

Hazel triggered while being trapped in an avalanche in Alaska. Her power is that she can telekinetically control precious metals and gems. Her costume consists of a suit that evokes a queen's attire (Velvety, has a high collar), with a golden mask that makes her face look like a skull. She's not all to intimidating despite it, mostly due to her body language and general kindness. She carries gold dust and small quantities of precious gems to manipulate in pouches on her suit.

Fidelis

Fidelis is the same as canon, but hasn't been revealed to be a villain yet.

Hannah Khoury "Polygraph"

Hannah triggered when an op of hers went wrong and an investigation was opened into a potential leak, one where she came under suspicion. Due to her less-than-optimal physical state(sleep-deprived, hadn't eaten due to stress), her shard configured itself incorrectly. The result is that when she starts Tinkering, she is unable to stop until her body is physically unable to Tinker. As a result, her powers have wrecked her life, destroying her marriage and ensuring that her husband got full custody of her daughter. The only reason she hasn't lost her job at NCIS is that because their investigation precipitated her trigger event, she has grounds to sue them into oblivion. She was made head of the New Orleans office as a way of apology/bribe to keep her from suing. Her Tinker specialization is lie-detection equipment, which has extended into sensors and systems that work with various methods used for lie-detection (kinesthetic analysis, facial recognition). She usually just wears a domino mask when she needs to be masked.


	6. Artificer

Artificer

Herberta Baker was born to Eunice and Harold Baker on November 6, 1977 in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was named after Herbie the Love Bug, as her father loved car movies, and her mother thought Smokey sounded "Like a strippers name". She grew up wanting to be a race car driver, before falling in love with automotive engineering in high school. She was accepted to MIT in 1995.

Arriving at college, Herberta did well academically, but struggled with her sexuality. Her discomfort and anxiety over it, combined with a sudden change in behavior regarding people's sexuality by her parents (in an attempt to be more supportive of her, as they realized they might not have presented a welcoming environment to a gay woman.), led to a spiral of paranoia that she was losing her sense of reality, culminating in her trigger event in 1998.

After finishing college, Herberta told her parents about her powers and joined the Boston Protectorate. She was moderately popular in the city, particularly amongst the engineering students at local colleges and universities. However, as a hero, she was rather middle of the road, and felt like an outsider in the team, preferring to spend time with the PRT scientists and researchers. She was known internally for working well with the local PICIS branch, and in 2003, was offered a transfer, on the condition she unmasked.

Artificer's unmasking is known in parahuman circles as an even bigger example of why the unwritten rules are necessary. When she unmasked, she also took the opportunity to come out as a lesbian, which incensed homophobic villain groups, namely the McVeay branch of the Fallen, who had a significant presence in her home state of Indiana. The day she unmasked, her father was attacked by a parahuman member of the Fallen (in spite of efforts by the Indianapolis PRT to ensure their safety, Harold was unaccounted for due to a new job, the address for which the PRT didn't have. The director at the time, James Hopper, eventually resigned over the incident, saying he "...didn't deserve to sit in the chair.") Harold was admitted to IU Methodist Hospital for severe radiation burns. Herberta was flown over there immediately.

The events surrounding Artificer's unmasking are also known for an incident that occurred during the media coverage of the attack on Harold Baker. CBS News sent Dan Rather to interview the hero live, but was interrupted by an argument between Herberta and her mother. The incident, which was broadcast live, shows Baker and her mother arguing, before Eunice says "If you hadn't shown off, your father would still be alive!" (Interestingly, right before then, Rather seemed to realize what was about to happen, saying "Oh fuck. Cut to commercial.") The incident exploded, with everyone offering their opinion on the events. CBS apologized for airing the arguments, although Baker never seemed angry at the network over its part in the event.

There are rumors that Baker was engaged at the time, and that this event led to the end of said engagement, but no one has ever offered any confirmation of such rumors.

Post-unmasking, Artificer transferred over to work at the Boston PICIS department. However, due to the events surrounding her coming out, she became a high-profile LGBT figure, a status she reinforced by her frequent appearances on panels and fourms where she discussed her experience as a gay superhero. She frequently appeared alongside Legend, becoming well-known for her friendly relationship with the Triumvirate member. In 2005, it was announced she would be made head of the PICIS department in Brockton Bay, a move that was hailed by observers as an excellent decision, given her experience with issues regarding parahuman identities.

In Brockton Bay, Baker was rarely in the limelight, as PICIS was frequently overridden by the PRT on gang cases. She was more well-known for serving as an auxiliary member of the local Protectorate team than for her professional position. She was, however, involved in the incident involving the hero Challenger, the details of which are still classified, and the investigation of teenage parahuman Rachel Lindt. In July 2010, it was announced she was the head of a task force investigating the organization led by Coil.


	7. Pied Piper

A rundown of the various Tinker powers of the parahuman members of Pied Piper

Richard- Tinker 1

Richard specializes in storing and compressing data. His compression algorithm is a Tinker-creation, but he can also build high-capacity flash drives and other storage devices.

Gilfoyle- Tinker 2

Gilfoyle specializes in algorithms of all sorts, such as search engines and ways to track data and find trends. His algorithms are extremely complex, effectively being a discount AI.

Dinesh- Tinker 1

Dinesh specializes in macro-scale programming. He can code just about anything, as long as it's big and complicated.


	8. Artificer's Suit and Power Rating

Here's an overview of Herberta's suit specs and her classification.

Herberta is generally classified as a Tinker 10, Thinker 6 and a Trump 3. There's a rationale for each one.

**TINKER 10-** Herberta's Tinker classification has actually been revised over the years as she's come into contact with more and more capes. She started out being classified as a Tinker 4.

 **THINKER 6-** This is for her power to understand the way powers work, as well as accounting for the fact that she is very intelligent outside of her powers.

 **TRUMP 3-** This is because she can replicate powers, as well as the fact that her Thinker ability lets her figure out the weaknesses to other parahuman's powers, giving her a status as a minor power nullifier.

Herberta's Suit

Appearance

Herberta's suit is designed to evoke the appearance of the old skin-tight bodysuit of comic book heroes. It's a medium pink with gold accents, and instead of looking like a mechanical suit, it looks like it's a fabric suit with metal components underneath, except for the helmet. The helmet uses a semi-transparent forcefield to protect her face while not obscuring it, a well as having a series of openings that let her hair stay free. She has an emblem on her chest of a six-toothed cog with a small gear inside of it, the lines of which are lit up in pale white light.

Abilities

The Artificer suit is the culmination of years of work by Herberta. It has a basic powerset that can be supplemented with various modular additions based on various powers. It gives her an additional classification of Mover 3, Brute 2, Striker 3 and Blaster 6. The suit doesn't use servomotors, but instead uses electro-constrictive(they contract when exposed to an electrical current) fibers with connectors integrated into her central and peripheral nervous system, effectively using her body's natural electricity to power it. This has the drawback of whenever parts of those fibers are damaged, it causes painful feedback. Below are the specifics of her suit's classifications.

 **Mover-** Her suit allows Herbie to run at a consistent speed of about 25-30 miles per hour. The interesting thing is that the way her suit is designed allows her to maintain these speeds for extended periods of time, allowing her to effectively run a marathon in a little over an hour.

 **Striker-** Her suit allows her to throw punches of 2600-4800 psi. It also gives her a lifting weight of about 5 tons.

 **Brute-** The suit is very durable, being particularly known for the network of forcefield projectors integrated into the "skin" of the suit that create "scabs" when the suit is damaged.

 **Blaster-** Herberta's suit has a pair of emitters that fire beams of concussive force(Think Cyclop's eyebeams) mounted on the backs of her hands.


	9. Brockton Bay Elite Members

The Brockton Bay branch of the Elite is based around the new Hooli campus being built there. As the company has been absorbed by the Elite, it has been changed from a simple tech conglomerate to a firm that specializes in absorbing Tinkertech-based companies. 

**Gavin Belson/Dealmaker-Thinker/Master 4**

Gavin was always jealous of his business partner, Peter Gregory’s parahuman abilities. As Hooli grew, Gavin began to look into methods of obtaining powers, eventually stumbling onto Cauldron. He bought a vial that gave him both the ability to see the best way to persuade or coerce someone, and a mild Master effect that makes his offers seem reasonable. 

**Lily Reynolds/Dowager- Thinker 6**

After the murder of her father, Lily went to work at an investment firm, where, after becoming frustrated with her lack of progress, she turned to Cauldron and got a mid-range vial granting her the power to sense and understand electromagnetic radiations. After using it to take control of the firm, she was recruited by the Elite, where she served as a lieutenant to various leaders in the Elite.

**Mason/Kickback- Striker/Shaker 5**

Mason was a stockbroker in the late 80’s with the ability to absorb ambient energy that he can empower his strikes with or convert into additional kinetic energy, granting him a degree of super-strength.


	10. Indianapolis Protectorate and Wards

The Indianapolis Protectorate team consists of four capes.

**Wally Morrison/Overwatch- Thinker 8**

Wally is a 36 year-old high school guidance counselor. As Overwatch, his power is that he is fully aware of everything in a 150 radius, to a degree that he can sense and dodge bullets. As his powers don’t have any direct combat applications, he carries a Tinkertech rifle. His costume is a deep blue and grey bodysuit with a red and white jacket, with his face being covered by a metal mask with a visor.

**Leanne Gulliver/Skiptrace- Mover/Blaster/Stranger 3**

Leanne is 32 years old and is an immigrant from Wales. She was part of a cluster trigger, which granted her three powers. Her powers include a Mover power that is short-range teleportation, a Blaster power that lets her shoot flurries of energy through a pair of pistols, and a Stranger power that lets her rewind time up to 30 seconds. Her costume consists of yellow leggings and a white top and armored breastplate under a bomber jacket.

**Guillermo Hernandez/Serpentine- Blaster/Master 6**

Guillermo is a 27 year-old who works as a mechanic. His power is that he can generate energy arrows that burst into spectral snakes he can control. His costume has a  _ vaquerro  _ theme and is sleeveless, with a serape over one arm, showing off his Aztec-themed tattoos on the other. He carries a longbow and wears a visor over his face.

**Gary Carnahan/Switchback- Tinker 5**

Gary is a 23 year-old mechanic who works with Guillermo. He is a Tinker with a binary specialization in prosthetics and augmetics and sonic tech. His main tech is a set of leg braces that allow him use of his legs and a sonic blaster. His costume consists of a grey bodysuit with purple accents with a green jacket and visor.

The Wards team is known as the “Blue Angels” and consists of three members, led by Horus.

**Amina Jenkins/Horus- Brute/Mover 4, Blaster 5**

Amina is a 17 year-old ROTC member. Her powers are an Alexandria package that envelopes her in a protective energy field with wings that allows her to fly. She can throw feathers from her wings that explode. Her costume consists of a cobalt blue jumpsuit with a breastplate and shoulderpads.

**Mei-Lan Yang/Coldsnap- Blaster 4, Tinker 2**

Mei-Lan is a 14 year-old who is a polyglot. Her power is basic cryokinesis, as well as a Tinker specialization in cold weather gear. Her costume consists of a powder blue parka with a grey undersuit and boots with crampons, along with goggles.

**Ingrid Samygaard/Snowflake- Shaker 5, Thinker**

Ingrid is 17 years old, was born without her right arm, and has a pattern of recklessness regarding collateral damage. Her power is creating hardlight constructs that are cool to the touch. The constructs are simple and can’t move on their own, but can be manipulated telekinetically. She also has a Thinker power that allows her perform sequences that are completely random. Her costume is a white and silver bodysuit over a cornflower blue coat with a hood. Her prosthetic is white and grey, with light blue light elements.


End file.
